Modern Germans are extremely nice, sane folk with a very open, broad-minded society. Modern Germans want no part of the Nazis. The Nazis were wastes of skin.

Gray and Palmiotti pull no punches when detailing Nazi atrocity. They cover all the bases, and they’re not subtle about it. The story begins with their time-traveling operatives liberating a campful of Jewish prisoners. Everybody but Holocaust Deniers know that the Nazis murdered Jews as a pastime. As the story unfolds, Palmiotti and Gray outline some of the Nazis’ other crimes against humanity.

Gray and Palmiotti give examples of the Nazi penchant for grotesque human experimentation. In another scene, a group of youthful, seemingly innocent Nazi soldiers turn vicious in an eye-blink. They were all loyal to One-Ball’s cause. There were no Sergeant Schultzes in period Germany. You couldn’t even trust the women. One soft, seemingly nice Nazi wife aids the cause. The Nazis were essentially sanctioned serial killers. They were evolutionary cul-de-sacs.

“Die You Fucking Nazi Fucks!!”–Peggy

Palmiotti and Gray pepper Time Bomb with choice, pithy dialogue. That line from Peggy made me laugh out loud, and there’s more where that came from as well as some humorous character dynamics from the team.

Because the operatives kill Nazis, it’s difficult to be disturbed by their bloody actions. However, Gray and Palmiotti show that some of these operatives possess consciences and grant mercy to the Nazis. The writers also distinguish wiping out “the enemy” from killing somebody face-to-face. For some of the operatives, execution isn’t easy. You get the impression that all of the time travelers want to complete their mission and get the hell out of World War II Germany. They will kill if they must, but they are not the Nazis who relish slaughter.

Paul Gulacy’s artwork makes Time Bomb look like a film-strip that was glued together into a comic book. The way Gulacy lays out a page exhibits consummate cinematography skill. Rain Beredo’s colors suit the mood of the book. Grays on snow for the Death Camp scenes and the fire-lit warmth of a beer house blend with the shades of Nazi uniforms. The subdued colors also make the splatters of blood all the more brighter and emphasize the LED glow of technology that should not be available in the era.

Thanks to Gray, Palmiotti, Gulacy and Berdo, Time Bomb is an engrossing, fast-paced time-travel espionage movie in comic book form. I look forward to the finale and whether or not the timeline will be preserved or changed.